Parahuman Quirk
by Freohr Weohnata Kausta
Summary: The entities were confused about the Earth they found- it already had powers on it. The Warrior didn't want to Cycle it, but The Thinker did. So now, there was a world in which people are born with powers and gain them. Though, there has never been one who has been born with powers and gains them. . . until now.
1. Clipped 1-1

[TRAJECTORY]

[AGREEMENT]

[DESTINATION]

[CONFUSION, QUERY]

[TEST, EXPLANATION]

[ACKNOWLEDGED, AGREEMENT]

[CONDITIONS]

[CONFUSION]

[NEW EXPLANATION]

[ACKNOWLEDGED, AGREEMENT]

* * *

I was screaming, I dimly noticed, not that it mattered, but it was still something to take note of. Now, the real question, how did I end up screaming? I have no- wait, _some_ idea of how I got here. I'm pretty sure I got caught up in a Hero fight, if the red, blue and other colors are to go by.

Fighting through the pain I tried to sit up. I was still screaming. My back was still to the ground. My vision was now fading in and out. As I lay there, I noticed two white blurs pick me up and take me somewhere. It was like floating, but a whole lot more bouncy.

They got me into a white blur box with other blurs. I could hear faint murmuring, or at least that's what it sounded like, they could've been yelling. My screaming had petered away by now, so with a hurt throat I said, "I'm going to take a nap." The blurs continued what they were doing. I didn't think they heard me. Oh well, I'm just gonna sleep.

Yeah… sleep sounds. . . nice.

* * *

Beeping. That's what I heard. It was going off at regular intervals. Beep. Beep. Peeb. Wait. That's not right. I think. _Do_ beeping things go peeb? I don't think so, but. . .

I shrugged in my mind, it didn't matter, all that mattered was IT WAS ANNOYING. I groaned, "Can someone turn that incessant beeping off?" but all that came out was, "Cghrrghanineeseecpeebinff."

"Ah, you're awake," someone spoke. I heard "Ahyrawke."

I opened my eyes, as they are the easiest things to open when you're not tired, and stared at the other person in the room. Well, I think it was a person, all I saw was blurs. Giant blobs where things should be. I squinted my eyes at the humanest blob.

"You can't see me, can you?" I continued staring at the human blob.

The voice sighed, "Nor can you understand me much." I stuck my tongue out at him, it wasn't the petulant type of tongue sticking, it was more of a 'blep' sort of thing. The voice was quiet for a bit, "I have an idea," it said, "can you clack your tongue?" I clacked it, "Good, now one clack for yes, two for no. Can you see me?" Two clacks, "Alright, can you hear me?" Three clacks, "Okay, I'll take that as a sorta even though I didn't say anything about three clacks. Hmm. Do you need glasses?" one clack. "Okay, then I guess that's the reason you can't see me. Did you have your glasses before the attack?" One clack. "Okay, that answers that. Do you remember your prescription?" Two clacks, "Hmm. Follow me." the blob finished up and started moving away.

"Hrrinrrf" I tried to say something.

"You _do_ realize that you can talk normally, right? I was doing that entire questioning thing so you wouldn't feel everything returning to normal, right?" the blob stopped and said.

I blinked, "Wait, so I can talk and not speak in garbled caveman?"

"_Yes,_ now will you _please_ follow me so we can get the prescriptions for new glasses done?" he had a strange tint about him, almost like he was annoyed. Oh wait. I looked around, I was still in bed.

I quickly got out of it and started walking to him. I was surprised to find out that I could stand up and not fall over.

Sometimes you just gotta hate Murphy.

I pushed myself off of the floor and looked at my guide, "So where to now?"

"Not going to fall over again, are you?"

I pulled myself up off the floor again, "Probably not, but it's a possibility."

I followed him outside and into the hallway, I had to lean against the wall for balance. We made our way past the nurses, doctors, and others as we made our way to wherever we were going.

My guide stopped and pushed open a door, motioning me inside. Well, all I saw was a blob waving another blob that was attached to him, but I got the message.

I got inside and took the fancy seat in the middle of the room.

It took a good bit of about what seemed an hour, it's really hard to tell when you can't see clocks, but when we finished, the doctor said, "You have _really_ bad eyes. It's a wonder that you weren't declared blind."

"Yeah, don't I know it. I've had ever since I was younger. But, somehow, they never declared me blind, maybe it has to do with what I actually see." I shrugged, people knew about my ability to see auras, they all think it's my Quirk, "I can see people's auras like they were tangible things, but I can't actually affect them, only see them." I frowned, "Maybe that's why they didn't declare me blind. Can't say it hasn't crossed my mind before, but it's still a possibility."

He sighed and shook his head, "Well, the glasses will be here by the time we get you to the room, so follow me again."

"We're doing quite an awful bit of walking," I noted.

"That's what happens when you're at a hospital this big."

"Say, what hospital _are_ we at?"

"The Brockton Bay General Hospital, you were brought here right after the explosion. I'm surprised that you survived it. It was quite a big blast."

I rubbed my head sheepishly, dodging a nurse rolling some equipment past, "I was caught on the outskirts of the explosion, so I didn't get it too bad."

He raised an eyebrow, I couldn't see it, but I could see the skepticism in his aura, "You were brought here with third degree burns and the front of your left leg torn off. I'm surprised you didn't bleed out."

"Okay, so I might've been near the center of the blast." I was lucky that my actual Quirk is Matter Manipulation, else I would've been killed otherwise.

"'Might've'?" he echoed, "You're downplaying it a lot."

I shrugged, there was nothing to say to that.

We walked back to my room in silence. Well, as silent as it could be in a hospital. I started dismantling and re-mantling my hand as we walked, it soothed my nerves. When we reached my room I put my hand back together, no need to make the doctors freak out.

"They said your glasses would be right- Ah-ha! Got them! Here you go, a new pair of glasses for you to see." The doctor said, handing me a pair of what looked like glasses.

I took them and put them on, seeing everything clearly. I gave a sigh of relief that I didn't know I was holding. I noticed my right hand was wooden, I quickly fixed that so the doctor wouldn't ask questions.

"Well, Mr. Holmes, your family will be by tomorrow to see you, so you better rest up." The doctor said.

"Thanks, Dr. -?" I left that hanging.

"Fields, Dr. Leo Fields."

"Thanks, Dr. Fields." I, Barry Holmes, said.

"No problem, it's my duty to take care of patients." He said and left, leaving me sitting on the bed.

There was only one thing to say about the entire day- "Well that was interesting."

* * *

**huh**


	2. Clipped 1-2

My sister, Emerson Holmes, was the first to burst in the door the next day. "Barry!"

"Heh, hey Em." I chuckled, patting my little sister's hair as she clung to me on the bed.

I was sitting on the bed, messing with my Matter Manipulation, when Emerson threw the door open. My mom, Ayleen Holmes Née Rojas, came in before my dad, Sherlock Holmes. Most people don't believe that my dad is _the_ Sherlock Holmes, but hey, it's not my fault my dad pinpricks their faults when he sees them.

My dad's eyes were shooting over my form even before he had entered. "You're fine. Other than your wooden hand." He added as an after-thought.

My eyes widened, "Heck! I _knew_ my hand felt stiff!" I looked at my right hand and reformed it back to flesh and bone again.

Em had gone into a giggling fit on the bed. Emerson's Quirk was Deduction, same as my dad. My mom on the other hand had no Quirk worth noting, it was just Item Reformation, a lesser version of my own Matter Manipulation.

"You need to get rid of that habit, Barry," my mom said, "It's just not good for your body even if you are quite adept at it."

I grimaced, "It's a nervous habit, I can't help myself from doing it."

She sighed, "Well at least try."

"Well I think that you should try more with self-manipulation." Dad said, earning a sharp look from mom, and he quickly amended, "With adult supervision of course." Mom nodded, satisfied.

"Weeelll, Brother, we actually came bearing news!" Em said, coming back from where she was laying on the bed.

"Oh! Yes, where was it," Dad muttered, searching his pockets.

"Right here, Sherlock?" mom said, holding up a sheet of paper.

"Ah! Yes, that!" he moved across the floor and grabbed it, "We have the papers for your release, seeing as you're now all healed up, we felt that we should take you home now."

"Wait, that easily?" I asked, surprised that they'd let people out that easily.

"Well, their motto _is_ 'The best hospital is one where there's no patients.' So, I guess that they'd want people to leave quicker," dad explained.

". . . They really need to change that motto," I muttered.

"Yes, I quite agree. Now come along, don't want the docs to get mad!" he spun on his heel and marched out the door.

I blinked, "Is he-?" I started, only to see mom roll her eyes and follow him. I turned to Em, who only laughed, pulling me off the bed, "C'mon, it's not like you kept anything here, anyway."

"Fair enough," I said, letting Emerson pull me out the door, following our parents. We weaved through the nurses and doctors towards the entrance, and reaching the reception area, we exited through the glass doors. I've always wondered why hospitals had giant glass windows in the reception area, then in the actual thing, there's not very many windows.

Emerson continued pulling me towards where mom and dad were already at the car. She released my hand as we approached and we all entered the car, dad started it up and we were on our way home. A twenty-minute drive later, we had arrived at our house.

Exiting the car was a freeing experience, away from Em's constant chatter and the radio noise- seriously, why do we even have that, they just play the same three songs all day- it was nice. Of course, that peace was ruined when Emmerson came out of the car and started dragging me towards the steps leading up to our house.

It was a nice two-story house, four-bedroom and three bathroom- counting the master bedroom bathroom. There was a- relatively- small kitchen with an adjoining dining room. Across from that was the living room and the laundry room through a door nearby. Straight across from the main door- past the kitchen, living, and dining room- was the back door, with a covered patio and several lawn chairs in there.

"Ooh, ooh! Barry! Me and Sarah got up to something the other day and created what we think is _the_ best thing that could've come of our combined intelligences! Come on, you gotta see it!" Em said, tugging on my arm.

"Okay, okay," I acquiesced, letting her lead me up the stairs, "Let's see what sort of eldritch abomination you two've created up now."

"Hey! Not _all_ things have become abominations! Besides, it's not an eldritch horror this time."

"Okay, whatever you say, sis." She huffed, but continued leading me to her room.

When we reached the room, she flung the door open, "Ta-daa!"

I blinked. "The hell is that?"

"It's an automatic writing machine! Or, AWM for short," she stated proudly.

"Don't we already have those? Like, typewriters, keyboards, or, you know, _AIs_."

She huffed, "No, it's an Automatic Hand-writing Machine. Not an automatic digital writing machine."

I tilted my head, "Isn't it the same thing, though?"

"Fine, be like that. Throw dirt on our accomplishment." She pouted.

"No, no. I don't mean to throw dirt on it- I'm just trying to make sense of it."

"Does it have to make sense?" she asked. And there's the kicker!

"Yes," I answered instantly.

"Oh. Oops." She shrugged. "Eh, it makes sense to me and Sarah. And that's all that matters!"

I rolled my eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to go pretend like I'm recovering from a traumatic event."

She looked at me confusedly, "What traumatic event?"

"Exactly," I answered, then closed the door and headed across the hallway to my room.

Once I closed the door, I flopped onto my bed, exhaling. _That_ was certainly something. I had no idea what had happened, but I was certain it was some_thing_. I flung out my arm towards my dresser where a block of wood was sitting and, grabbing it, I pulled my arm back. It started shifting as I toyed with it in my hands, going from one substance to another.

I started to mold it into a familiar shape, the general outline of a controller. As I messed with the internal mechanisms, the joysticks on it became loose and I was able to move them. The D-pad came loose as well as the ABXY buttons and the LR bumpers and triggers. I sighed and flung it onto my bed.

I was restless.

I didn't know what from, but I needed to go do something, anything. I got up and started pacing. Maybe she won't be against the idea? Sighing, I reached over to my desk and grabbed my phone, dialing a familiar number. She picked up on the second ring, "Yo, Barry, what's up?"

"Wanna go for a walk on the boardwalk? I'm restless and I need something to do."

"Sure! Just gimme a moment to finish up here, then I'll meet you at Fugly's."

"'kay. I'll see you there, Sarah."

"See ya in 'bout thirty minutes, yeah?"

"Yeah," I answered then hung up.

* * *

**Got a little look of his powers and I wonder who this Sarah is. . .**

**eh, you'll see in next chapter.**

**-FreohrWK**


	3. Clipped 1-3

I closed the door behind me, taking a look around the city. Brockton Bay may not have been the prettiest city out there- no city can claim that- but it at least looks nice. Nice enough that both the Wardens _and_ Shepherds set up bases here, or at least recruitment centers. There were, of course, other Heroic factions out there, the PRT for example, but those two were the most popular and vocal.

I moved through the streets with casual ease, having traversed them many, many times before. I made my way to the closest bus stop- which wasn't that far, really- and waited for the bus. Other people were already waiting at the bus stop, a couple of them seated on the bench. The people born with Quirks usually had some sort of mutation in their body, either an additional body part of a full re-write of their genetic code, it didn't matter.

At first, when the first mutations started showing, people were scared and shunned them. Gradually, we accepted them and now, they're a part of life. But that was all after the Dark Years. The Dark Years were the first decade when powers started showing, before even the Wardens and Shepherds. The world was ruled by supervillains and the like, but then the first heroes showed up, saving people and taking down the villains.

The years following the first decade was filled with a complete overhaul of governmental rules and regulations to cope with the new status quo. When things had settled down, two people appeared. They called themselves 'parahumans' and said that they were here to help. One male and one female. The female called herself 'Eden' and the male, 'Zion.' After their appearance, the Quirkless, a lessening community of people who didn't have Quirks, started to also gain powers.

I snapped out of my musings as the bus approached the stop. Climbing aboard with the rest of them, I found and empty seat and sat down. I stared out the window as the scenery passed by- people, of all colors, shapes, sizes, and ethnicity were out and about today. The bus stopped and several people got off. _Two more stops till the Boardwalk, _I internally counted down. I had memorized how many stops it took for the bus to take as I went down there so often.

Usually, I would go down to the Boardwalk to stare out into the waves, if I was in a particular brooding mood, or just to watch the waves roll into the beach below as I wrote or drew. But more often than not, it was me and my friends that went to the Boardwalk to have a good time and hang out after school. Apparently, I hadn't noticed the bus moving again, as it stopped at the second stop- the one next to the local PRT headquarters.

Minutes later, I stepped off the bus and onto the bustling sidewalk of the Boardwalk, a sea-side courtyard filled with vendors and people roaming the stalls. It was sort of like a year-round market by the seaside. Bayside. Eh, whatever.

Moving away from the crowds, I made my way towards the actual Boardwalk. Resting my arms on the wooden fence that lined the boardwalk, I stared out into the waves, thinking. I had been in a fight, that was for certain. No, not in- near a fight. A fight in progress. A fight between who, though? My mind raced through all the heroes and villains in Brockton Bay, trying to remember who it was. _It's on the tip of my tongue!_

A familiar voice shouting my name broke me out of my thoughts. Looking up, I saw Sarah approaching, her braided blonde hair swinging behind her. "Hey, Barry!" she said, coming within talking range, "I thought we were going to meet at Fugly's?"

I shook my head, smiling, "Sorry, slipped my mind. I was thinking about the thing that happened a couple of days ago- the blast that made me lose part of my front left leg- and what happened during it." I looked at her, "Do you know what happened?"

"I heard something about an explosion, but not the exact details. I'm guessing that it was just another Warden and Shepherd fight, but something's telling me it's not." She frowned and looked off to the side, in what I called her 'thinker' pose.

I nodded absently, something was telling me it wasn't them either. "In any case," I said, startling Sarah out of her thoughts, "We can figure it out later. Preferably when we're eating something."

Grinning, she rolled her eyes and took my hand, "Like you'd ever let something important to you go that easily."

"Certainly. Now, fair lady, let us go get hideously greased up," I said, escorting her to the Fugly Bob's nearby.

There were three Fugly Bob's on the Boardwalk- the main one in the market, North Boardwalk Fugly Bob's and South Boardwalk Fugly Bob's. We headed towards the south Boardwalk Fugly's, as we were closer to it. All three Fugly's had a bar-type area that was facing the Bayfront and a walk-in area, if you wanted to get out of the sun for a bit.

Usually on bright summer days like these, the outside would be busier than usual, but, as it was around lunchtime, the inside was as busy as the outside. It took several minutes, but we finally found us a spot and sat down and took our orders. Idly, I glanced around the room. When my eyes passed over the wall where they kept pictures of who had completed the challenger, I smiled a bit, noticing my picture.

I totally wasn't cheating when I ate it.

"You were," Sarah's voice broke my thoughts.

"I was not, in fact, cheating when I ate The Challenger," I argued.

"You were using Matter Manipulation while eating it- that's cheating."

"It is not; it's called using my resources."

Sarah gave me a disbelieving look, her lips turned up in an amused smile, "Sure. You keep telling yourself that, maybe I'll believe it someday."

"Maybe I will," I agreed. We held that position for a bit, then burst out laughing.

The food arrived soon and we dug in. When I met Sarah, she was being held at gunpoint by someone, and I acted; using my Matter Manipulation, I formed a fist next to the guy and shoved him out of the way and trapped him with it. I had run up to Sarah and asked if she was alright, which she replied that she was, and my dad quickly found us, found out Sarah's situation, and had her move in with his colleague, Mr. Watson.

She's been living with Mr. Watson for a couple of years, now, helping Dad and him with cases. Sarah's voice broke me out of my thoughts again, "So, Mr. reminiscence, what can you tell me about the explosion?"

I rolled my eyes at the nickname, "Sure. Just don't call me that again, 'kay?"

"Only when you get to thinking about the past and ignore everything again."

I shrugged, "Fair enough. So, I was up around the Boat Graveyard when I heard raised voices coming from a nearby alleyway. I went to investigate, and well, boom. Everything exploded, and I was sent flying back. I quickly used Matter Manip. to heal myself, but I hadn't gotten the front of my left leg fully done before I passed out."

She looked at me intensely, "You're not saying everything. They said something to you. Something about- oh. What? No, that can't be right."

I grimaced, "Yeah, they told me something about Eden and Zion. It's- it's weird. I don't believe it myself."

"No, you believe it, you just can't come to terms with it." Her eyebrows scrunched together. "It's something. . . about. . . agh!" She cried out and clutched her head.

I reached over the table to her, "Sarah, are you all right?"

"Y-yeah," her voice was shaky, "I-I'm fine. Just a Thinker headache."

"What were you inferring about?"

"Something to do with powers- ow." She winced, gripping her head again.

I nodded, "Yeah. They, well, they told me that Zion and Eden are the main sources of powers for non-Quirk users."

Sarah froze, hands clutching her head. "That makes _so_ much sense now. Holy shit."

"Language," I admonished.

"Hypocrite. Also English."

"And probably a bit of Spanish," I added.

"And some French," She quipped, then grew serious. "If they truly are the source of powers, then how do they spread them out?"

"That's the thing; I don't know. The people who were talking didn't get to say anything else before it was crashed by something."

She shook her head, rubbing her temples, "My power's not giving me anything else, sorry."

"It's fine. I didn't think it would." I looked off to the side, thinking. Finally, I shook my head and looked back at Sarah, "I don't think we'll get anything more."

"Yeah. We done here or anything else we wanna talk about?"

"Nah, let's go abduct Amy from the hospital."

Sarah raised an eyebrow as we gathered our trash, "Really? You'd need Vicky for that."

"Nah, I have my own way of extracting her from the Hospital."

Sarah looked me over, then raised her eyebrow, "Really?"

"Hey," I grinned, "It's worked the past several times."

She looked away with a disbelieving, yet accepting, look on her face. "Okay. If you think it'll work."

"It'll work. Trust me."

It wasn't a far walk to the nearest bus stop- us being in the Boardwalk meant that there were bus stops nearly everywhere- and it didn't take long for the bus to arrive. Taking it, we dropped off at the nearest stop to the Hospital. I took the time to take bits of matter from the area to form them into a small flower bouquet. Sarah raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Entering into the sliding doors of the hospital, I went straight to the reception. "Hello, is Panacea still healing?"

They nodded, "Yeah; fourth floor."

"Thanks!" I moved off towards the elevators, Sarah following me.

Boarding an elevator, she spoke up, "This is stupid."

"It's worked every time."

"I believe you. I just don't like it."

"Too bad, you're my friend; you'll have to deal with it."

She sighed. "Like always."

I grinned, "Like always."

The doors opened then, letting us out at the fourth floor. Following the sound of gratuitous people, we made our way to where Panacea was finishing up healing the last person in the wing. Sliding on my knees toward her, I held out the bouquet of flowers as she turned around, "Panacea, will you ever accept my love!?" I exclaimed dramatically.

She gave me the flattest look, as always, and slapped the flowers out of my hand, "Shut it, doofus."

I fell with the flowers, "No! Rejected again! I shall not give up! You will accept me!"

"What do you want, Barry?" Panacea, also known as Amy Lavere, asked.

I recovered quickly, "Yes, actually! We need you to get off work; we have a mystery to solve!" I struck a pose.

Her healing cross-pupiled eyes narrowed, "Really?"

"Yes, really!"

"Barry thinks that there's some sort of group behind the Shepherds and the Wardens," Sarah explained, coming in from the hallway. "I helped him find it out, and now he wants to figure it out."

"And so you want my help."

"Yeah!" I agreed.

She sighed, "Fine, I was finishing up here anyway. Let me go change out of my costume then I'll help you out." She moved out of the room, Sarah moving away from the door to let her pass.

I grinned at Sarah, who gave me a flat look, "See? I told you it would work."

"Only because she was finishing up with this wing of patients."

"So? It worked."

Sarah sighed and shook her head. Shrugging, I grabbed the flowers off the floor, and transmuted them into oxygen motes and led the way down to the main lobby of the hospital. It didn't take long for Amy to change back into her civvies and soon we were back on our way to solve the first mystery!

* * *

**Ah, Barry, so much like your father. . .**

**2,041 words**


	4. Clipped 1-4

"-and so there was an explosion, tearing off most of my body below my waist, but I managed to repair the rest of me except for the front of my left leg," I caught Amy up on what was happening.

"And so we're heading back to the scene where it all happened." She side-eyed me. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course it's a good idea; I've learned things from dad and he always says that the best place to find information is at the scene of the crime!" I held up my finger, smiling proudly. "And so, I've determined to follow my path to where I had met those weirdos. If anything, it actually might help me get a clue on what actually happened."

Amy tilted her head- Sarah was walking behind us- and frowned. "How did it happen anyway? I know you said that you were just casually talking to strangers in an alleyway, but then the explosion; how'd the explosion happen anyway?"

I nodded. "That's what I'm trying to figure out. I was talking to them, them giving me information, then it just- exploded. I was too high on pain to see or hear what had happened, and by the time I was partially coherent, the medics had already arrived and they carried me off."

"We're here," Sarah said, causing us to stop.

I looked around as I turned to face her- the area didn't look like an explosion happened. I frowned, "Something's wrong. Majorly wrong."

"Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing." The three of us got closer to the alleyway where the explosion was supposed to have been there. Looking down it, Sarah commented, "They couldn't've remade the alleyway this fast; usually they keep it for a few days, and it hasn't even been a full day since it happened." She scanned it once again. "Yeah, they hadn't remade it- it doesn't look like Bricker's work. No, it- it looks like it was reverted to what it was before the explosion happened."

I nodded, my mind working fast. "Yeah. It's as if the perpetrator doesn't want anything getting out."

Sarah turned suddenly and grabbed someone's arm. "Hey, did you know about the explosion yesterday?" I blinked, realizing her process.

The person blinked, "Uh, what explosion? There was a bit of a scuffle downtown, but the heroes put a stop to it quickly. If there was an explosion, I'd bet I would have heard of it already."

Sarah smiled apologetically, "Thanks- I thought that there'd've been one yesterday. Must've been a dream. Sorry if I interrupted your day."

The person chuckled, "Oh, no, you're quite all right. I was in no rush. Good bye."

"Bye!" Sarah turned to us, her look serious, "So someone must've done something to revert memories of people, too."

I thought back to what Emerson had said earlier today. "I had joked with Em about the explosion and traumatic event, and she replied, but I think she actually thought that I was serious."

"So, this is actually bigger than you thought," Amy commented. Sarah's head snapped to her.

Grabbing Amy by the shoulders, Sarah asked, "When did you learn about the explosion?"

Her eyes wide, Amy answered, "When you and Barry told me; that was the first I'd heard of it."

They stood there for a few moments in semi-uncomfortable silence, staring at each other. Before I interrupted, clapping my hands to gain their attention. The looked over at me, startled, and I spoke, a giant grin on my face, "Well, gang, it looks like we got a mystery on our hands!"

Sarah groaned and planted her head into Amy's shoulder, while Amy just raised an eyebrow.

* * *

I pinned another string into the wall, making another line amongst the others, finishing up the massive connections board Sarah and I put up in the Mystery Room, utilizing the cork board that my dad had put up in there.

Turning around, I landed my hands on a stick that I created just then for this moment. "Alright, ladies; here's what we got." I lifted up the stick and started pointing it at the different points we had up there. "There's some sort of conspiracy with the two most powerful parahumans on the planet, who don't want it getting out to the public. I was told that they had given out powers to the unpowered after the Dark Years, and Sarah had figured out, with my help, that the two of them gave out powers somehow. It is also possible that the two of them are behind the Shepherds and Wardens, or not, but there is definitely someone behind the two major parahuman-dominated teams." I tapped a note with the stick, "That, paired with what we learned not too long ago, is a worrying sign."

Amy, with her arms already crossed, asked, "And why, pray tell, is it worrying?"

"Because we literally have no idea on what's going on!" I exclaimed, deforming the stick into oxygen motes. "I mean, Eden and Zion are _probably_ multidimensional beings that are throwing around planet-size things and hoisting off powers onto randoms and then popping off and doing whatever they do! The mysterious people might be a secret organization that fights off whatever Zion and Eden are doing while simultaneously protecting themselves against them while trying to prepare for the end of the world!" I took a breath, my grin growing wider. "And the whole 'forgetting about the explosion' might be Eden and Zion covering their tracks when dealing with the mysterious people!"

The sound of something clattering on the ground outside the door caught our attention. Casually forming a hand several meters away from me, I used it to open the door, revealing Emerson standing there wide-eyed, a plate on the ground by her feet.

Grabbing her with the hand, I pulled her in and Sarah closed the door. Raising an eyebrow, Amy asked, "What'd you hear? How much did you hear?"

Em swallowed thickly before speaking, "What- what Barry said- it's almost all true."

Sarah paused, looking at Emerson strangely. "Explain," she said slowly.

Licking her lips, Emerson answered, telling us what she had garnered through her power. Once she was done with her explanation, we each had our own reactions; Amy leaned back in her chair, Sarah was deep in thought and I turned to look at what I had put up on the board, while Emerson stood there fraying the hem of her shirt nervously and worrying her lip.

Finally sighing, and making Emerson twitch, I turned back to my friends and family. "Well, if the mystery is already solved, there's no point in doing anything, is there?"

Amy shook her head, denying my statement. "No. We still don't know where the mysterious group is located or how Eden and Zion do what they do."

"We already figured out the second one," Sarah spoke up, "If they're the source of parahuman powers, then they have access to the powers that they haven't sent out or are holding back. As for the former, well, how'd they contact you, Barry?"

"As I told you, and you figured out, I had walked in on them talking with each other first, then they dragged me into their discussion and started telling me about what we already know. Why they'd tell me about it I dunno, but it was according to someone's 'Path.' A mystique or something person; the details are a bit fuzzy from the explosion."

Opening my mouth to speak again, the door opened abruptly, revealing my dad standing there. Blinking in surprise, he said, "Hello, kids, didn't expect to find you in here." He paused, musing, "Then again, there was the plate on the ground." Looking back at us, he asked, "So what're you trying to solve?"

Sarah spoke up for us, "We're trying to figure out how to contact a mysterious group that had contacted us first, but left no way of return contact."

Dad nodded. "Try and remember the conversation you had with them and recall any pertinent details that stood out to you, no matter how minor- that's usually the key to finding out what you want." Moving to his desk on the far side of the room, he removed a folder and exited with the parting words, "Well, I'll be off, just needed a folder for Watson and me; you kids have fun trying to solve your mystery!"

"Remember any detail, no matter how minor," I mused over dad's words. "Any detail. . ." I paused as I remembered overhearing part of their conversation. "They can give out powers. Somehow, they can give people powers," I said, raising my voice above a mutter.

"Then let's search for that." Emerson nodded. "If they can give out powers, then they'll know who searches on 'how to get powers,' probably. So let's do that until they contact us, then viola! We found them."

Amy raised an eyebrow, "And how do you know about that?"

Emerson blushed slightly, "I overheard people talking about it- some people without quirks."

Amy looked like she was fighting a smirk. "Mmhm."

Emerson just huffed and crossed her arms. "If you don't believe me, then fine."

I glanced at Sarah, both of us sharing an amused smile, before I clapped my hands a drew their attention toward me. "Okay, so we know what we have to do now, all we have to do is implement it. Em, you're on lookup duty; you're going to be looking up how to get powers the most. Sarah, you're going to go on PHO to look up powers and find any threads on how to get them. Me and Amy are going to do casual searches for powers. When any of you receive a message from them, relay the information to us instantly."

"Why am I being forced to do the main lookups?" Emerson whined.

"Because you suggested it," I smiled back, feeling no pity for my sister.

She blew a raspberry at me in response. Besides her, both Amy and Sarah nodded.

I stretched, feeling the satisfying pops in my back and fingers, and smiled at the girls, "Well, meeting adjourned. I'll put up the string and tacks and I'll be out with ya."

* * *

Once Amy and Sarah had left, and Emerson had retreated back to her room, I finally let the iron grip on my mind break free and felt an overflowing of ideas and creations that I could make out of every molecule in sight, and out of sight.

I slumped in the stool out of exhaustion- holding back a day's worth of ideas had taken a toll on me. Getting off the stool, I went back to my room and grabbed the partially created controller and, using the schematics in my mind, completed it fully.

Grabbing a stray wire that was connected to my console, I plugged in the controller and started the console. When I finished the load in screen, I flicked the joysticks a bit and saw that it actually worked, surprising me. Shutting the console off, I unplugged the controller and stared at it.

Ignoring the voice in my head that was saying I should change it into something more dangerous, I returned it to the wood block I had created it from.

As I was staring at the wood block, one pertinent thought came to the forefront of my mind: '_What the fuck happened during that explosion._'

* * *

**Hehe. fun times.**


End file.
